Education design

Under the Seismic Mitigation Program, and in collaboration with Montgomery Sisam Architects (MSA) from Toronto, SHAPE Architecture completed the Project Definition Report for the existing Maple Grove Elementary, which was approved by the Ministry of Education in March 2017 for a full replacement school. The team immediately embarked on facilitating numerous workshops with the school community including parents, teachers and students. During these workshops, the stakeholder groups developed a set of Design Principles which, along with the Vancouver Board of Education Design Principles, would guide the design of the new school.  Ema Peter Ema Peter Ema Peter Ema Peter The design takes advantage of the unique corner s... More

“Fairytales and curiosity inspired the design; ideas such as ‘breadcrumbs’ as colourful geometries on the floor, ‘keyholes’ windows for peeking through walls, and curvy white acoustic ceiling panels that float above like clouds.” — Kenny Kinugasa-Tsui, co-founder of Bean Buro “We created an adaptable environment for different spatial setups. The idea is similar to a theatre stage. Young learners can choose how they would like to engage with the class.” — Lorène Faure, co-founder of Bean Buro Bean Buro The Brief: A curious learning centre  We were tasked to create an inventive learning centre for Qurio—a high-quality enrichment school for children aged four... More

Open classrooms and shared learning spaces throughout the nursery create an unrestrained and boundary-free environment while the abundance of natural daylight through the large, glazed façade and well-positioned skylights open up the spaces to create a bright environment for children and teachers. Stepping inside this new school the interiors are light, bright with pastel tones and, of course, ladybirds that delineate the different areas. Chris Goldstraw The scale of the classrooms is governed by the age groups and the age group defines the placement and of sizes of various elements in the teaching rooms. The youngest children are placed nearest to reception for ease of access for buggies, while the one to two year olds have th... More